Croaker finished his story. The prince and his sister had listened agape. TheRadisha recovered her poise first. She'd always had the harder edge. "Wayback, Smoke cautioned us that there might be more going on than met the eye.That there might be players in the game we didn't see."All eyes turned to the unconscious wizard. Croaker said, "Prince, you usedthat sticker pretty well tonight. Think you'd have trouble pricking him if heasked for it?""No trouble at all. After what he's done the trouble I'll have is not stickinghim before we get a story out of him.""He's not all bad. He walked into a trap trying to do what he thought wasright. His problem is, he gets an idea in his head and he can't get it out ifit's wrong, no matter what evidence you hit him with. He decided we were thebad guys come back for general mayhem and he just couldn't change his mind.Probably never will. If you execute him he'll die thinking he's a hero andmartyr who tried to save Taglios. I think I can waken him. When I do, youstand by to stick him if he tries any tricks. Even a puny wizard is deadlywhen he wants."Croaker took an hour but did tease the wizard out of life's twilight and gothim to choke out his story.Afterward, the prince asked, "What can we do? Even if he's as contrite as hesays, the Shadowmasters have a hold we can't break. I don't want to kill himbut he is a wizard. We couldn't keep him locked up.""He can stay locked up in his mind. You'd have to force-feed him and clean himlike a baby but I can put him back into the coma.""Will he heal?""His body should. I can't do anything about what the devil did to his soul."Smoke's past cowardice looked like outrageous courage now."Do it. We'll deal with him when there's time."Croaker did it.Chapter Fifty-SixShadowspinner's shadows remained blind to my whereabouts. He did not seem ableto adjust. And his bats were useless. Were in fact extinct in that part of theworld where my band stole through the night.I signalled a halt a mile from where my scouts said Spinner had establishedhis camp. We had come a long way in a short time. We needed rest.Narayan settled beside me. He plucked at his rumel, whispered, "Mistress, I'mof a divided mind. Most of me really believes the goddess wants me to do this,that it will be the greatest thing I've ever done for her.""But?""I'm scared.""You make that sound shameful."Page 153ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"I haven't been this frightened since my first time.""This isn't your ordinary victim. The stakes are higher than you're used to.""I know. And knowing wakens doubts of my ability, of my worthiness... even ofmy goddess." He seemed ashamed to admit that, too. "She is the greatestDeceiver of all, Mistress. It amuses her sometimes to mislead her own. And,while this is a great and necessary deed, even I, who was never a priest,notice that the omens have not been favorable.""Oh?" I had noticed no omens, good or bad."The crows, Mistress. They haven't been with us tonight."I had not noticed. I had grown that accustomed to them. I assumed they werethere whether I saw them or not. He was right. There were no crows anywhere.That meant something. Probably something important. I could not imagine theirmaster allowing me freedom from observation for even a minute. And theirabsence was not my doing. And I doubted it was Shadowspinner's."I hadn't noticed, Narayan. That's interesting. Personally, it's the best omenI've seen in months."He frowned at me."Worry not, my friend. You're Narayan, the living legend. The saint-to-be.You'll do fine." I shifted from cant to standard Taglian. "Blade. Swan.Ready?""Lead on, my lovely," Swan said. "I'll follow you anywhere." The more stressedhe became the more flip he was.I looked them over, Blade, Swan, Ram, Narayan, the two arm-holders. Seven ofus. As Swan had observed, the obligatory number for a company on quest. Atotally mixed bag. By his own standards each was a good person. By thestandards of others everyone, excepting Swan, was a villain."Let's go, then." Before I grew too philosophical.We did not have to talk about it. We had rehearsed farther away. There wouldbe no chatter to alert Shadowspinner.It was a slovenly encampment. It screamed demoralization. But for Spinner myragbag army could have beaten those Shadowlanders. And they knew it. They werewaiting for the hammer to fall.We passed within yards of pickets who sat facing a fire and grumbling. Theirlanguage resembled Taglian. I could understand them when they were notexcited.They were demoralized, all right. They were discussing men they knew who haddeserted. There seemed to be a lot of those and plenty of sentiment forfollowing their example.Narayan had the point. He trusted no one else to find his way. He came slidinginto the hollow where we waited. In a whisper that did not carry three feet hetold me, "There are prisoners in a pen to the left, there. Taglian. Severalhundred."Page 154ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlI turned that over in my mind. How could I use them? There was potential for adiversion there. But I did not need one. "Did you talk to them?""No. They might have given us away.""Yes. We'll stick to the mission."Narayan went ahead. He found us another lurking place. I began to senseShadowspinner's nearness. He did not radiate much energy for a power of hismagnitude. Till then I had been sure only that he was in the camp. "Overthere.""The big tent?" Narayan asked."I think."We moved closer. I saw that Shadowspinner felt no need for guards. Maybe hethought he was his own best guard. Maybe he did not want anyone that closewhile he was asleep.We crouched in a pool of darkness, a dozen feet from the tent. One fire burnedon its far side. No light came from within. I eased my blade out of itsscabbard. "Blade, Swan, Ram, be ready to cover us if something goes wrong."Hell. If anything went wrong we were dead. And we all knew it."Mistress!" Ram protested. His voice threatened to rise."Stay put, Ram. And don't give me an argument."We'd had the argument already. He did not give up. I moved forward. Narayanand his arm-holders drifted with me. So did the smell of fear.I paused two feet from the tent, drew my blade down the canvas. It cut withouta whisper. An arm-holder widened the slash enough for Narayan to slip through.The other followed, I went next, then the first arm-holder.It was dark in there. Narayan held us in place with a touch. He was a patienthunter. More so than I could have been in his place, knowing the moon wasabout to rise and rape away the darkness. Its fore-glow had been visible aswe'd approached the tent.Narayan started moving, slowly, certainly, disturbing nothing. His arm-holderswere as good as he. I could not hear their breathing.I had to rely on extraordinary senses to keep from stumbling over things. Ifelt the Shadowmaster's presence but could not pin it down.Narayan seemed to know where to go.There had to be hangings ahead. No light from the fire outside reached us. HowI wished for some light.Light I got, unexpectedly. Just enough light to unveil the awful truth.Shadowspinner was off to our left, seated in the lotus position, watching usthrough a grim beast mask. "Welcome," he said. His voice was like a snake'shiss. It was feeble. It barely carried. "I've been waiting."So the shadows had not been fooled after all.Page 155ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlHe guessed my thoughts. "Not the shadows, Dorotea Senjak. I know how youthink. Soon I shall know all that is inside your head. You arrogant bitch! Youthought you could take me with three unarmed men and a sword?"I said nothing. There was nothing to say. Narayan started to move. I gesturedslightly, a Strangler's signal. He froze. There was a chance if Shadowspinnertruly believed these men unarmed.
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